Ahead of the 2027 Punjab Assembly elections, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has announced that it will contest all 117 Assembly seats in the state, signalling its intent to go it alone in the upcoming polls. This has triggered fresh political speculation over whether the BJP and Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) will enter into an alliance ahead of the Punjab polls.
The announcement was made by BJP National General Secretary BL Santosh during his two-day organisational visit to Punjab. Santosh attended the party's first zonal meeting in Patiala on Monday.
"Punjab is fully ready for change, and the BJP is fully prepared to make this change a reality. In the upcoming Assembly elections, the BJP will contest all 117 Assembly seats in Punjab and, by securing a victory, will form its government in the state," he said.
What Is BL Santosh's Visit to Punjab About?
BJP National General Secretary BL Santosh on Monday addressed the first zonal meeting in Patiala on the first day of his two-day organisational visit to Punjab.
Santosh's visit comes as the BJP seeks to strengthen its organisation in the state, address internal differences and gather feedback from party leaders on organisational issues, including the possibility of an alliance with the Akali Dal.
Punjab BJP co-in-charge Narinder Singh Raina said on Monday that Santosh's visit was limited to two days.
"Our national general secretary, Santosh ji, has a two-day program in Punjab, and there are various organisational meetings scheduled," Raina told ANI.
During his visit, Santosh is scheduled to hold a series of zonal meetings with BJP leaders and organisational functionaries across Punjab. The meetings are aimed at reviewing the party's organisational activities and strengthening its preparedness for the 2027 Assembly elections.
On August 25, the organisational meetings will continue in Ludhiana, Jalandhar and Amritsar.
The Ludhiana meeting will cover Ludhiana Rural, Ludhiana Urban, Moga, Jagraon, Khanna, Malerkotla and Ropar.
The Jalandhar meeting will include Jalandhar North, Jalandhar Urban, Jalandhar South, Hoshiarpur Urban, Hoshiarpur Rural, Nawashahar and Kapurthala.
The final zonal meeting will be held in Amritsar, covering Amritsar Urban, Amritsar Rural I and II, Tarn Taran, Gurdaspur, Batala, Pathankot and Ferozepur.
A separate meeting with the state general secretaries is also scheduled in Amritsar, the BJP said.
BJP's Punjab Plan Raises Fresh Questions Over SAD Tie-Up
The BJP has been paying particular attention to Punjab politics in recent months. After the party's historic victory in the West Bengal Assembly elections earlier this year, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, while addressing party workers in Delhi, had announced that “Punjab is next.” Since then, the BJP has intensified its focus on Punjab politics.
Against this backdrop, the announcement that the BJP will contest all 117 Assembly seats has raised questions over the possibility of an alliance with the SAD ahead of the 2027 polls.
The BJP and SAD had been long-standing allies before ending their partnership in 2020. The Akali Dal withdrew from the BJP-led NDA following differences over the Centre's farm laws.
Although speculation about a renewed alliance has continued, the BJP has maintained that it is preparing to contest the election independently.
Before BL Santosh announced that the BJP would contest all 117 seats in Punjab, Punjab BJP president Kewal Singh Dhillon had also dismissed speculation about an alliance, saying that the party was fully prepared to contest all 117 seats in the state on its own.
Santosh's latest announcement therefore reinforces the BJP's stated strategy of contesting the Punjab Assembly elections independently. However, it remains to be seen whether the two parties will revive their alliance before the polls.
For now, the BJP's public position is that it will contest all 117 Assembly seats, even as speculation over a possible BJP-SAD alliance continues. The two parties ended their long-standing alliance in 2020 after the Akali Dal withdrew from the BJP-led NDA over the Centre's farm laws.